From Good to Great: Key Insights on Reaching Procurement Excellence, Oct 2025

Category Management Maturity: 12 Years of Global Insights

Mark Webb presented striking findings from the 2024 Global Category Management Report. After 12 years of research across hundreds of organizations globally, one statistic stands out: only 5% of organizations operate at high maturity levels in category management.

The research revealed what separates high-performing procurement teams from the rest: senior leadership sponsorship, dedicated category resources (not just added responsibilities), structured capability development programs, and digital tools that enable insight rather than just processing transactions.

Perhaps most concerning: despite increased investment in procurement technology and training, the performance improvement curve has flattened in recent years. Many organizations are implementing tools and processes without achieving expected value realization. The challenge isn’t just about having the right methodology—it’s about execution, capability, and organiszational alignment.

The Future Purchasing Maturity Assessment Framework

Matthew Jones outlined the comprehensive methodology used to assess and improve procurement performance. The Future Purchasing maturity assessment evaluates organizations holistically across five key dimensions: Strategy and Leadership, Organization and Governance, People and Capability, Process and Ways of Working, and Technology and Data.

Matthew emphasised that assessment is not the end goal, but the starting point for transformation. The framework provides objective benchmarking against global best practices, specific actionable recommendations prioritized by impact and effort, a logical roadmap for sequencing initiatives, and success metrics to track progress.

The key is translating assessment insights into a practical, achievable transformation program that the organization can actually execute.

Panel Discussion: Pathways and Pitfalls

The closing panel distilled key lessons for lifting procurement performance:

Critical Success Factors:

• Start with Why – Connect procurement excellence to business outcomes people care about
• Build Capability Systematically – Invest in structured development programs, not just experience
• Get the Operating Model Right – Clarify roles and ensure structure enables strategy
• Leverage Technology Wisely – Focus on adoption and change management, not just implementation
• Measure What Matters – Track leading indicators and use measurement to learn, not just report

Common Pitfalls:

• Trying to transform everything simultaneously instead of building focused momentum
• Underestimating the culture change required beyond process and tools
• Copying best practices without adapting to context
• Neglecting quick wins that maintain transformation energy
• Insufficient sustained leadership commitment

Key Takeaways: From Insight to Action

Drawing threads across all sessions, five powerful parallels emerged between high-performance sports and procurement excellence—each with clear implications for your journey forward:

1. Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? (Mission Clarity)
   Just as Oxford Brookes evaluates every decision against boat speed, procurement teams need a clear North Star. Does this initiative, investment, or activity advance our core mission of delivering value to the business? Mission clarity prevents distraction and enables better decision-making.
   Your action: Start with honest assessment. Understand your baseline across all dimensions of procurement excellence.
2. Focus on Performance to Achieve Results
   Championship teams focus on performance excellence, knowing results will follow. Similarly, procurement teams that focus on capability development, process excellence, and relationship building achieve better outcomes than those purely chasing savings numbers.
   Your action: Build capability systematically. High performance comes from structured development, clear standards, and consistent investment in people.
3. Confidence and Belief (Psychology of Success)
   High-performing teams believe they can achieve ambitious goals. In procurement, this means building confidence through capability development, celebrating successes, and creating psychological safety where people can challenge themselves and others constructively.
   Your action: Lead the change. Be clear about why excellence matters, model the behaviors you want, and support your team through the journey.
4. Face the Challenges
   Elite athletes don’t avoid difficult training or tough conversations. Procurement teams must similarly confront hard truths: capability gaps, underperforming suppliers, difficult stakeholder relationships, or process breakdowns. Avoidance delays progress.
   Your action: Focus on execution. Success comes from disciplined implementation and persistent focus, not just having the right strategies.
5. Working with Others (Collaboration as Competitive Advantage)
   In both rowing and procurement, individual excellence isn’t enough. The ability to work effectively across the boat or across the organisation separates good from great. Building genuine collaboration—with suppliers, stakeholders, and within teams—creates sustainable competitive advantage.
   Your action: Measure and adjust. Regular tracking enables course correction, celebrates improvement, and keeps teams aligned.

As Sam Sheppard demonstrated with Oxford Brookes rowing, you don’t need to start with the best people or the most resources. You need clarity, commitment, and a systematic approach to developing excellence.
The question isn’t whether your procurement function can improve. It’s whether you’re willing to do what’s required to get from good to great.

Thank you to all our speakers and attendees who made this event insightful and engaging. For more information about the Future Purchasing maturity assessment or to discuss your procurement transformation journey, please reach out